Warm weather brings early season opening

This season’s above average temperatures has prompted an early opening for the two most popular places to cool off in Turner Valley.

The Dr. Lander Memorial Outdoor Swimming Pool and the neighbouring Lions Spray Park are scheduled to open on May 20, just in time for the Victoria Day weekend.

“I’ve lived in this community all of my life and it has never opened this early,” said Cheryl Gross, the pool operations coordinator. “The weather is great so we though why not. I’ve got the staff ready.”

Gross said workers are doing the finishing touches on making the change rooms in both facilities wheelchair accessible, and she expects everything will be in place for Friday.

Last summer, the Town received $10,000 through the federal government’s Enabling Accessibility Fund, which allowed the purchase and installation of a portable handi-lift portable chair in the pool.

“We are trying to get local seniors from the lodge to the pool, but some of them are in wheelchairs,” Gross said. “They will be wheeled into the facility and the chair lift will lift them into the pool.”

In addition to modifications in the change rooms, Gross said staff are also ramping up programming at the swimming pool this season.

She said they’ve added more activities like fun days and fitness classes, and will also offer junior lifeguard training and certification courses throughout the summer.

The popularity of Turner Valley’s outdoor pool continues to gain momentum each year, and was especially popular last year with the addition of the spray park in June, said Gross.

“Now that we’ve got this spray park it just keeps going up in numbers,” she said. “The pool is a gem in the mountains and there is not too many outdoor pools that are left.”

Gross said several families see the busy parking lot in the summer and stop at the pool on their way to camp in Bluerock or Sandy McNabb.

“They are like, ‘What is all the excitement here?’” she said. “They pull in and go, ‘Hey, this is great.’”

Some residents have asked if the pool could be open earlier, but Monique LeBlanc, Turner Valley community services and business development manager, said the Town only budgets to have the pool operating and staff in place from the Victoria Day Weekend until the Labour Day weekend.

As for the spray park, she said opening it too soon could cause problems.

“We are always concerned because there is so much piping that’s involved that we need to be assured that it’s frost free,” she said. “May in Alberta can present us with all sorts of weather challenges so we’re never quite sure.”

LeBlanc said both facilities are an integral and significant service the Town offers its residents and visitors.

“It’s a great way to have fun and get exercise and it’s also a very much loved and cherished community facility,” she said. “We anticipate that participation and use is going to go up. It has been increasing.”

The spray park and pool will be open Mondays through Fridays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, as well as Victoria Day, from noon until 7 p.m. until the end of the school year.

The summer hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and noon to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The hours are subject to change.

For more information call 403-933-7483 or go to turnervalley.ca. Registration for swimming lessons is June 8 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall.

Admission to the spray park is free.